Clyde, one of Tori Amos' myriad characters from her new album American Doll Posse records in her blog that she left the Australian leg of her tour with a copy of Shaun Tan's amazing illustrated book The Red Tree. Which is weird, because DL just picked up a copy of that book at the truly incredible Salts Mill bookshop, while attending a reading by SF Said, author of Varjak Paw as part of the Saltaire festival. Delirium, as Sandman fans will remember, was based on Tori by her friend and fan, Neil Gaiman.
It seems strange but perfect that this should happen the week I saw Theatre de Complicite's A Disappearing Number at the Barbican, with texts by John Berger -- as I'm reading Berger's new book, Hold Everything Dear. Complicite's show, which makes mathematics into poetry, works from the idea that everything is connected, both figuratively and literally.
The same day, I get an email from my Australian friend, the brilliant playwright and poet Jasmine Chan, who introduced me to Tan's work with a copy of The Arrival which - in true DL style - greets visitors to my flat, who get drawn to its beauty, but has yet to be read. Now I feel that I must, to participate fully in the connectedness.
5 comments:
Nice Blog. Lots of ideas for reading.
I too have just seen A Disappearing Number and read Hold Everything Dear. Berger is a hero of mine - a wonderful writer and a wonderful man (I feel honoured to know him a little). He is 80 but still goes everywhere on his powerful black motorbike.
Get hold of his Selected Essays if you can. He has rightly been called the best essayist since Orwell and I'd say the best essayist on art ever. And try his novels (Pig Earth, perhaps) - He is currently writing a new one which I'm looking forward to reading.
Glad to see Del's Lib supports Vertigo!
my website: www.david-johnson.co.uk
DL is a long-time fan of Vertigo magazine, and currently particularly enjoys the filmgrimages, photographed by Lady Vervaine.
She is also a long-time fan of Vertigo editor Gareth Evans, whose mesmerising poem appears as the epigraph to Hold Everything Dear. One of the library's most treasured holdings is a complete run of GE's earlier magazine, Entropy -- not the one based in San Luis Obispo, but a stranger, richer and (so far) internet-eluding creature. Seek it out!
If Entropy isn't too subject to entropy - perhaps I might get hold of a copy.
I only recently met Gareth (He put me in the current Vertigo) and I'm now finding him ubiquitous. Good writer and a nice guy.
Oh, and Lady Vervaine tells me that the filmgrimage photos can be found here.
Vertigo depends on subscriptions to keep its unique curation of avant-garde, experimental, obscure, angry and curious film culture alive -- plus, you get free DVDs when you sign up...
Good hint. (Have we met? -or is that an internet no-no)
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